Strawberries, irrigation, dogs and rain

We got some rain this evening.

Saw on the TeeVee weather radar at 6pm a storm was headed our way. So around 6:30pm I went out to the garden to pick strawberries so we would have some tomorrow for the farm store. My friend Marge stopped by the farmers market Tuesday evening to ask if we would have any Wednesday or Thursday. I told her I would have some Thursday and to drop by. So I had to have something picked before the rain set in. I hate reneging on an order

I got 10 pints so all is good. It is funny how darkening skies and rising winds really speed up one's picking time. I think I took me about 20 minutes or so to do the first two rows (7 pints) and about 5 minutes to get the 3rd row picked (3 pints) as the rain was bearing down on me. But I got the berries picked and inside and almost got the laundry off the line before the first drops hit the dirt.

As I write I hear Nate running around the back yard barking at distant thunder. He is so weird about storms. He is very much bothered by them but instead of cowering he wants to fight them and run them off (and in the end always succeeds in chasing the things away) . It gives him something to do. The other two dogs, Arlo and Danny, are lying beside me happy to be in out of the rain but not at all bothered by it.

I am happy to say this is not the first rain we have had in the past week. Last Friday we got .4 inches and Saturday and Sunday we got another couple of 10ths. Tomorrow we are supposed to get around an inch. I believe this is because Eugene has finally gotten the irrigation system 100% complete as of yesterday afternoon. In the past when we have had dreadfully dry weather, within 24 hours of getting the irrigation system set up, the rains always come. And this year seems to be no exception.